Kara Goucher (born 9 July 1978 in Queens, NY) is an
American middle and long-distance runner. Kara grew
up in Minnesota and graduated from the University of
Colorado in 2001. She later moved to Eugene, Oregon
with her husband (fellow American runner Adam
Goucher) and is coached by American running legend
Alberto Salazar.
As a runner for the University of Colorado, Kara
broke out in 2000 and became the NCAA Outdoor
Champion in the 3000 m and 5000 m, the NCAA Cross
Country Champion, and also a 5000 m Olympic Trials
Finalist (8th).
After college Kara battled injuries for several
years, but then came back strong in 2006. After
finishing 2nd in the 5k at the USATF Outdoor
Championships in 2006, she set PRs at all distances
on the international circuit, running the World “A”
Standard in the 1500 m, 5000 m, and 10000 m. She
finished third in 3000 metres at the 2006 IAAF World
Cup in a new personal best time of 8 minutes 41.42
seconds. Her 3k time led the nation and her 10k time
ranks her as the 2nd fastest American woman of
all-time. At the 2007 IAAF World Championships in
Osaka, Japan she won the bronze medal in the women's
10,000m event.
In September 2007, she won the Great North Run in
1:06:57, the fastest woman's half-marathon time of
the year, setting a new American best time at the
distance and beating marathon world record-holder
Paula Radcliffe, on the latter's comeback from
pregnancy and injury. The half-marathon was
Goucher's first competitive race longer than 10k.
Kara kicked off 2008 with a win in the prestigious
Millrose Games mile with a PR of 4:36:03.
